Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the uptake of veteran's ID Cards.

The Veterans’ Recognition Scheme has a two-phase rollout. Phase one is complete; with all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receiving a recognition card from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) as part of their discharge process. As of January 2023, there have been over 62,100 HM Armed Forces Veterans’ Recognition Cards issued as part of phase one

Phase two aims to extend access to the recognition card scheme to those veterans who left service before December 2018, including those residing in Canterbury. The MOD is currently developing the verification system required to enable the delivery of Phase two and is working closely with veterans and other stakeholders to make sure that the system works, before introduction into live service. We will be engaging with veterans over the coming months to participate in this testing phase. Veterans will be able to choose whether to apply for a card, however, we know that 1.85 million people in England and Wales reported that they had previously served in the UK Armed Forces in the 2021 Census (data from Scotland is expected soon).

The Government remains committed to delivering recognition cards to existing veterans and we aim to roll this service out later in the year.